Incense Smoke at Dusk

The splendor of a prosperous age showered on women is nothing but a veil for the dirty pursuit of fame and profit. Even as the most honored princess in the Celestial Empire, she could not escape the fate of being sent away like a gift. The monk called Chuji was like glittering snow atop a mountain, a monk whose heart no one else dared disturb. She was merely a worldly woman: her eyes saw beauty, and her heart brimmed with greed, anger, and delusion. At fourteen, she said, “If I could, I would turn into an invisible wisp of green smoke, preferably scented with sandalwood. Then, when you sit in meditation before the Buddha, Master, you could still sense me.” At fifteen, she said, “The world bullies me, my father and brothers sold me, and you are my only salvation, Master. But now even you are going to abandon me. Tell me, what am I supposed to do? As a princess, am I meant to be buried in the dirt and trampled by them?” But he said, “Your attachment as a princess is wrong, and your infatuation is a sin. To this humble monk, it is a force as terrible as a flood or wild beast.” He said he would save her. Could he? In truth, he could not even save himself. There is no way to have it both ways in this world: to remain true to the Buddha is to betray the one you love. When the revered Master Chuji must choose between the Buddha and his beloved, what will he decide? P.S. This is a story about a monk~